Associations of digital media use and sexual activity

Intense digital media use was suspected to disrupt relationships and therefore reduce sexual activity. This study explores associations between digital media use, sexual activity, and in-person contact. The cross-sectional study analyzed quasi-representative data from 2064 participants aged 18 to 69 years living in Austria. Participants reported digital media use per day, in-person contact with friends per week, frequency of sexual activity in the past year, number of sexual partners, and satisfaction with frequency of sexual activity. More intense digital media use was associated with less sex; this effect was small. Additionally, more in-person contact was associated with more sex and more sex partners. Among men who have a partner, higher digital media use was associated with too much sex. The same was true for single women. Further, high digital media use was associated with not enough sex in women irrespective of partnership. Nearly half of participants (45%) reported to have less sex than they wanted. Social support and social integration have frequently shown positive effects on well-being and are apparently also positively associated with more sex.